Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza

The City has established a Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza Working Group to create a vision for the future programming, operation, and governance of the space. Working Group meetings occur approximately once per month.

Call for Ideas

During September and October, the City invited members of the public to propose visions for the future use and programming of the Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza. All submitted ideas can be found here: www.harvardsquarekiosk.tumblr.com.

Proposals were asked to reflect the following goals:

Flexible and adaptable – across seasons, different times of day, month, or year

Welcoming and safe for all users

A community gathering space

Navigable – maintaining the space as a busy transit thoroughfare

Dynamic and engaging

Proposals were also asked to consider the following:

The Kiosk is a historic building and any modification must be historically consistent. More information on the historic status of the building can be found in the Landmark Designation Report.

In an effort to evaluate the proposals, Working Group members filled out a survey which included the following prompts:

Please select your five favorite ideas overall.

Please select up to five of your favorite ideas for the Kiosk.

Please select up to five of your favorite ideas for programming.

Please select up to five of your favorite ideas for physical improvements or amenities.

Click here to view the proposals with the most total votes for each of the four above prompts. The top three proposals (or a greater number in most cases due to ties) for each prompt were included in the diagram.

January 31, 2018

The sixth meeting of the Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza Working Group was held on Wednesday, January 31st at 6:30 P.M. at 344 Broadway.

December 13, 2017

The fifth meeting of the Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza Working Group was held on Tuesday, December 13th at 6:30 P.M. at the Citywide Senior Center.

November 8, 2017

The fourth meeting of the Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza Working Group was held on Tuesday, September 12th, from 6:30 - 8:30 P.M. at the Citywide Senior Center.

October 4, 2017

City Staff and Project for Public Spaces consultants held a Site Visit on Wednesday, October 4th, from 5:00 - 5:45 P.M. at the Harvard Square Kiosk. The site visit was followed by a Community Meeting from 6:30 - 8:30 P.M. at the Citywide Senior Center, 806 Massachusetts Ave.

September 12, 2017

The third meeting of the Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza Working Group was held on Tuesday, September 12th, from 6:30 - 8:30 P.M. in the Kresge Foundation room on the first floor of Harvard University’s Barker Center at 12 Quincy Street.

July 17, 2017

The City has awarded the contract for Harvard Square Kiosk Programming and Use Consulting Services to Project for Public Spaces (PPS). PPS will provide expertise in public space programming and community engagement around placemaking initiatives to the Working Group process and will work with City staff and the Working Group to develop recommendations for the use, governance, and operation of the Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza. PPS's proposal can be found here.

July 13, 2017

Comment Period Open on the DRAFT Request for Qualifications for the Restoration / Renovations of the Historic Harvard Square Kiosk

The City will be issuing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for hiring a consultant to provide design and construction administration services for the restoration / renovations of the historic Harvard Square Kiosk. The City would like to provide an opportunity for community input on the scope for the RFQ. The comment period on the RFQ will be open until July 28, 2017 and comments will inform any changes to the RFQ before it is advertised. The RFQ is available under the Documents tab. Please submit your comments on the scope and evaluation criteria to Katherine Watkins, City Engineer, kwatkins@cambridgema.gov by July 28, 2017.

The City would like for a couple of members of the Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza Working Group to participate on the Designer Selection Committee. This would involve approximately 10-15 hours of time working with City staff to review the qualifications from the consultants, shortlist the firms to determine which ones should be interviewed, and interviewing 3 firms. If you are a member of the Working Group and are interested in participating, please send an email expressing your interest to Stuart Dash and Katherine Watkins: sdash@cambridgema.gov and kwatkins@cambridgema.gov.

June 29, 2017

The second meeting of the Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza Working Group will be on Thursday, June 29th, from 6:30 - 8:30 P.M. in the Kresge Foundation room on the first floor of Harvard University’s Barker Center at 12 Quincy Street. The meeting is open to the public.

May 11, 2017

The first meeting of the Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza Working Group will be on May 11th, from 6:30 - 8:30 P.M. at 344 Broadway in the 4th floor conference room. The meeting is open to the public.

March 27, 2017

The City Manager has appointed the following members to the Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza Working Group, including residents, subject matter experts, property owners, and representatives from local businesses and institutions:

Abra Berkowitz

Robyn Culbertson

Ankita Deshpande

John DiGiovanni

Mary Flynn

Timothy Hyde

Bertil Jean-Chronberg

Frank Kramer

Peter Kroon

Janet Si-Ming Lee

Thomas Lucey

Sohail Nasir

Sarah Rosenkrantz

Daniel Andrew Schofield-Bodt

Abhishek Syal

Kenneth Taylor

March 16, 2017

The City has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP), seeking proposals from a consultant or team to work with City staff and the upcoming Harvard Square Kiosk and Plaza Working Group process to create a vision for programming and to develop models and recommendations for governance and operation of the Harvard Square Kiosk.

Comment Period Open on the DRAFT Request for Proposals Harvard Square Kiosk Consulting Services

The City is interested in issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for hiring a consultant to assist the City to create a vision for the programming, operations and governance of the Harvard Square Kiosk.The City would like to provide an opportunity for community input on the scope for the RFP consulting services. Specifically, we are seeking public comment on the scope and evaluation criteria.

The comment period on the RFP will extend for three (3) weeks, and comments will inform any changes to the RFP before it is posted. The revised RFP will be posted for six (6) weeks to allow sufficient time to publicize the opportunity to potential respondents. The link to review the RFP scope is provided below. Please submit your comments on the scope and evaluation criteria to cddat344@cambridgema.gov.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

The Neighborhood and Long-Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts and Celebration Committee conducted a public hearing on Thursday, September 28 to discuss the redesign of the Out of Town News Kiosk in Harvard Square. Click on the below links to the following presentations from Wednesday evening's meeting:

Thursday, June 23, 2016

The Neighborhood and Long-term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts, and Celebration Committee will be conducting a public hearing on Thursday, June 23rd from 5:30 P. M. to 7:00 P. M. in the Sullivan Chamber, Cambridge City Hall to discuss the formation of a special working group that will be tasked with developing a framework for the continued stewardship, curatorship, and oversight of the Out of Town News Kiosk in Harvard Square. Click here for the presentation from Thursday evening's meeting.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

The next Harvard Square Placemaking Community Workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, June 17thfrom 5:30 P. M. to 7:00 P. M. at the Smith Campus Center, 2nd Floor, 1344 Massachusetts Avenue. The entrance is located next to Cambridge Trust (to the left of the main entrance). A sign will be on the door indicating the location.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Follow-up Public Workshop

Join us for an evening of continued discussion on the ideas for the public space in the heart of Harvard Square including the Plazas at the T, Harvard's Forbes Plaza at Holyoke Center, and in front of the Coop. The session will kick off with a look at the public open space interventions to date, followed by further discussion of the four categories of actions in and around the plazas. (View Harvard Square Vision Plan report)